I made it home from Las Vegas with only a moderate case of sensory overload from watching 48 NCAA basketball games in 4 days – and a few horse races and parts of a couple of NBA games in which I had a “special interest”. On this particular pilgrimage, two young gentlemen joined us on their first visit to Las Vegas (Vegas Virgins?). They obviously had a good time. One high point was their observation that Las Vegas must not have an “open container law” since half the people walking on the street are carrying some kind of “beverage”. We thought about that for a moment and realized that Las Vegas just might have a law stipulating that in any group of three or more people walking on the street, at least one of them must have an open container with them. You never know…
Pitt played one of the wolf-ugliest games of the decade in their first round win over Central Florida. Anyone who knows me realizes that I love a tight defensive game much better than a track meet. What Pitt and UCF played was simply ugly. The way these teams were hitting shots, it is a good thing they were not out to hit the piñata because all the kids would never have gotten the goodies inside. Neither team could hit anything except the rim.
The University of Florida should welcome the team home with a concert by The Platters – because this team is indeed The Great Pretender. Manhattan is a good team but hardly a great team and the Jaspers just stomped a mud hole in Florida's collective butt. By the way, what the hell is a Jasper?
The PAC-10 checked out quickly and so did the Mountain West Conference. These two conferences had six spots in the tournament and managed to get one win. So for all those people in California and Washington and Oregon, who complained about an East Coast bias, let me say that it wasn't a bias, it was a fact. Western basketball stunk in spades this year. Deal with it.
When Air Force lost to UNC, they had zero offensive rebounds until they grabbed one with 8 seconds to play in the game. The only way you win in that scenario is to shoot about 80% from the floor so there aren't many offensive rebounds to be had. They didn't; they lost.
Any NCAA tournament is a good one as long as Bob Huggins goes home after the first weekend. He is doing that again this year. Cincy dodged a bullet against ETSU in the first round but they had all the wrong answers in their second round game against Illinois who pounded them like a porn star. If you are going to run a program with players whose behaviors are less than always sociable and who never graduate, you really ought to do a whole lot better than Huggins. Give the devil his due; at least Tark won games with his thugs.
I've said this before and I will reiterate here. Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel are an excellent broadcasting team for basketball games. They are better than Jim Nantz and Billy Packer; they should be the CBS #1 team.
Paul Finebaum writes for the Mobile Register. Last week, he figured out that the real attraction for the NCAA Tournament is the betting that goes on in office pools and in other legal and illegal venues. He said that “industry sources” estimated that six billion dollars will be wagered on the tournament. Wow, what an insight. You don't think that Myles Brand – the man who is sure that gambling is the root cause of all evil with regard to collegiate sports – might be looking the other way because the gambling produces the interest that draws the viewers to CBS that draws the ratings that brings in the ad revenues that lets CBS pay the NCAA about $1B over the life of the current TV contract? Nah, me neither…
Whilst I was gone, Gary Barnett seems to have continued his quest to become a college sports pariah – one who will reside in the same neighborhood as Jerry Tarkanian and Dave Bliss. In a letter to recruits and team supporters after the allegations of sexual assaults by players and recruits, he said that the investigation into these matters is a “bump in the road” and a test of the team's determination and resolve. Note, this is in a letter; it is not a quote taken out of context; it is not a microphone stuck in his face where he said something that expressed a less than fully formed thought.
I heard Curt Schilling complain about the drug-testing program in baseball and his complaint – as I heard it on ESPN in the midst of concentrating on NCAA basketball games – is so illogical that it bears mentioning. He does not trust management to run the testing program because he thought last year's tests were anonymous and claimed the players were told that “no one would be able to be identified” via the testing program. Think about that for just a moment. If no one can be identified, how would anyone know who had failed the first test in the five step failure program that leads to a suspension under the sacred collective bargaining agreement? If there is a urine sample, then there is one's DNA in the sample meaning that every sample is directly traceable.
Mets' outfielder Karim Garcia was involved in an “altercation” outside a pizza parlor in Port St. Lucie Florida a couple of weeks ago. No charges were filed in the matter and it seems that the whole thing began when Garcia “watered his horse” outside the establishment. The police and the people involved in the altercation may not have filed any charges here, but I can't wait to hear what Don Fehr and Gene Orza will have to say about Garcia providing this unscheduled urine sample…
Finally, Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post said that they are going to make a new movie about Indiana basketball and the working title is Loosiers.
But don't get me wrong, I love sports...
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